Crohn's Disease & Ulcerative Colitis Support Group

Crohn's disease is a systemic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) of unknown cause, that results in chronic inflammation of the intestinal tract. It can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, and can also cause complications outside of the gastrointestinal tract. There is no known medical or surgical cure for Crohn's disease, but there are many medical...

Newbie- with medication conscerns

Hi! I'm brand new to this- lived iwth symptoms for a long time. My conscern is regarding medication choices. I'm allergic to sulfa- I'm not a big fan of systemic steroids... If I were to pursue immunotherapy, I'm conscerned that I might have to change my occuation (I put plenty of time into school and my career). I'm in a position that potentially exposes me to some pretty masty stuff. Has anyone been told to limit exposure, change jobs based on this therapy?
Thanks in advance for your input.

I am on Remicade. I have been warned to steer clear of sick people and seek medical attention at the first sign of any infection (even if it seems minor). Good for you for researching before you start this therapy.

I'm on the immunosupressant Imuran. Of course I heard the stay away from sick people but really, how is that totally possible? I was never told anything about where I should spend my time. I used to work in a hospital, did a lot a pt visitation, never had any major issues. Now I work in a gym which can be quite the petri dish! I had mono last year and I contracted pink eye this year in March.
But, I refuse to let this disease and it's treatments stop me from doing what I love. I just try to play it smart, stay aware of my surroundings and let the chips fall where they may!

On Remicade for several months now, and I'm an elementary school teacher, so I'm around lots of sniffling, coughing, runny-nosed kids daily during the school year. I just do my due diligence as far as hand-washing, etc. goes, and I haven't noticed any increase in illness since starting. My doctor actually said that the Remicade only makes us more prone to certain types of infections, not ALL infections, and that generally cold/flu-type viruses are not in that category.

I've been on Remicade a year now and have no illnesses or infections. Very diligent about hand washing, making my family members wash up as soon as they come in from the public.

My occupation is dog grooming and I am exposed to poo and other nasty things like skin fungi and such, but again, lots of hand washing and I am picky about the dogs I'll accept as clients. When I worked for a vet once a week I saw lots of really gross dogs, but like I said, now I am working for myself I refer those to other groomers, as well as any that bite -- don't want to risk a bite. Before I was diagnosed with UC adog bite landed me in the hospital for a weekend of IV antibiotics to treat celulitis. And that was with an intact immune system.

While I am not in full remission on Remicade it has been a Godsend in making my symptoms more manageable and in getting me off the Prednisone.

Well, I am on the evil Prednisone now and I have taken Imuran (which I LOVED), and I am a teacher. I am exposed to sick children constantly because God forbid someone allows their sick children to stay home and get well as opposed to sending them to school to spread God-knows-what to everyone(slightly bitter)-but I rarely get sick.

The only consistent sickness that I have is my colitis. I don't know if this helps, but we all have to do what we have to do. The majority of the medications that treat Crohn's and UC seem to hit our systems pretty badly. You just have to do what you think is best for you.

Thank you all for your input- I have my first apt. today, and I guess it's a mixed bag. I wrok in a hopsital- in Respiratory- but do more patinet education than hands on suctioning, etc. But am required to go into TB isolation rooms, see patients with MRSA, etc.. been doing it for years- I am fanatical about hygeine, but have managed to get mono and 2 years ago picked up an infectious type pneumonia- but, who's to say it wasn't in the grocery store? It's nice toknow there is support and others like me out there... I had reached a point where I thought maybe it was my head that needed to be examined. This took way too long to diagnose. Hugs to all

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